The Puppet and The Prince
by OneTwoManyDreams
Summary: What came before the Demon Jester and his mask of insanity? Well, let me tell you, it started with a puppet and a prince. My take on the origin story of Shaco.


**AN: Hello dear reader, this is my first story on here and hope that you enjoy. It is my attempt at going deeper into the origin story of Shaco and is mostly OC driven for the first part. Introductions aside I hope you enjoy.**

 **May the reader read on.**

* * *

 **Prologue: Current day**

* * *

It was infuriating, all of it. Alan clasped the tiny slip of paper in his hands that he had gotten from the librarian. His long robe acted as a dust mop as he made his way deeper and deeper into the shelves. He started to slow down, glancing at the numbers labeling each bookshelf, stopping near the 300s. The note had been directing him to 345, then in between the shelves all the way to ancient records and tombs. Most of these books were never going to see the light of day, and held nothing but rather useless information of old ages and battles, oh so many battles. A part-time job as an information collector really blows, especially when you always seem to be coming to this big old library. Emphasis on both the big and the old; the further back you went, the more likely a book was going to crumble as soon as you touched it.

Alan had been chosen to try and find out more information about a certain person's…. things… past, it was complicated. It had taken him hours of trying to dig through previous records, behavioral similarities, and now he had to resort to books that were dated hundreds of years back. What a bore, to be tasked with learning about someone that no one even has a glimmer of information about.

He came to a halt at one of the last tombs, untitled and unlabeled, the only difference it had from the rest was the faded ink on the side. The barely comprehensible T:S:77. The summoner sputtered as a cascade of dusk came down as the book almost sent him sprawling with its weight. Grunting, Alan turned back around, already grimacing at the pain of dragging this thing all the way back to a table near the front.

The *whump* of the book turned some heads and the summoner fell back into the chair. He really didn't get paid enough for this. Reluctantly he opened the tomb and started to scan the dates. 1000 BI, 600 BI, 300 BI, 200 BI, finally stopping at 70 BI. The page he needed was still in surprisingly good shape, without dust and not deteriorated. He flipped one more, "The Fallen Prince." Alan's eyes lit up, this was what he was looking for, one more page turn. His breath hitched, it had been ripped out… he checked the number on the previous page, and the next one. They were at least 40 apart. He ran his finger along the center, feeling the roughness with which they had been torn. Everything that had been written about this, "Fallen Prince" was gone.

He closed it and sighed, trying not to blow up and just flip the table. He would be able to restore the tomb, hopefully. After lifting the book back to the front desk another summoner looked up at him from a turned down hood.

"Keep this one in my case, I will come back for it soon." He turned without another word and back towards his office. That report was due today, at least this lead was going to be enough so that he wasn't going to get a verbal beating. Maybe now it was just going to be a slightly less painful verbal beating.

* * *

 **Ch 1: Days of Falling, 77 BI.**

* * *

"Nobody seems to appreciate the way petals fall."

Deep green eyes watched the tiny blue object drift down, and down, and down, before gently landing in a pond and creating a ripple to join the rest already aimlessly drifting in the pool of water. Within the indoor gardens, the seasons didn't seem to change, it was always the same temperature with the same every other day, rain and regular weeding. He placed the goblet on the table and took another deep breath of the stiff air. The juice had been so sour, probably too old. The plants in here shouldn't have been affected by the outside word.

But, they always knew when to fall, and die. They knew when to shed their leaves and silently wait for the clock to turn and the world outside turned from green to white. Even while stuck in this glass prison the plants and trees still didn't adhere to its rules.

"Sire, your father wishes to speak with you." The prince pulled his eyes from the pond and to the servant. He let out another large sigh and stood up, dusting off the bits of grass and leaves from his clothing.

"Why of course, he keeps calling me again and again." The prince started to walk back to the main castle that would lead him towards the royal hall. Another day, another annoyance. His eye twitched at the sound of the marching guards keeping up with him, of course, it had doubled since last week.

The prince entered the throne room on a swift stride, the doors pushed open for his entrance.

"Icarus, how kind of you to join us."

"Father," the prince gave a quick nod. He stood in front of the daunting throne, every jewel and bit of wealth reflecting perfectly from the open windows. The prince only squinted past the exquisite jewels and furniture. If they served no other purpose than blind the person standing below the throne, the prince would have thought they were useless.

"You called?" He got straight to the point, folding his arms behind his back and looking intently at the king. No reason to be here for any longer than he needed.

"Why of course, of course, news from the North says that the Princess of Everlon is on her journey South." Icarus rolled his eyes. He was tempted to pinch the bridge of his nose but kept his chin high and hands next to his side.

"Father, I am in no need of a suitor and I don't have interest in one either. I must insist that you stop..." He cut his own words and just glared. There was a dangerous glint in the king's eyes that had stopped him.

"What do you mean no need, you are almost of the age and of marriageable status."

They had this conversation before, it's not like it would be any different.

"I have already invited this young princess to come and visit." The king waved a hand as if it was nothing. The edges of the prince's mouth slanted downwards.

"Father please."

"Enough." The king's voice had audibly risen. "Icarus you must fulfill your duty, and I will not have you spending all your time sitting in the gardens and breathing in the scent of flowers and lazing around." The prince took a deep breath, calming himself to control any outbursts.

"Father please, I ask that lady Everlon not come to.."

"Icarus," the voice was steely now. The prince stared into the hardened eyes. There was silence in the grand hall. The guards kept their faces forward, servants only wore poker faces to not give away any expression.

"Fine," the prince just tensed the muscles in his chin, not breaking the gaze and grinding down on his teeth. "Is there any other information you would like to remind me about." There was another second of silence before the king replied.

"No, you are dismissed." He waved a hand and the prince immediately turned and marched from the room. The king started to look down at the parchments on the table, returning back to his work. The prince's guard had waited by the door and it opened for him once again. Icarus stopped in the doorway.

The king stopped the quill in his hand and glanced back up towards the prince.

"Yes?" He eyed the boy.

"Fath - er." He cut the word in half as if it was hard to get out.

"What?"

That's when the prince fell forwards, his crown clanking on the ground and rolling before coming to a rattling stop. The guards couldn't catch him before he hit the ground.

* * *

There was a satisfying click as the wooden joint was put into place. The long thin hands inserted the securing bolt into place and let the wooden arm hang loose. The old man stepped down from the footstool looked up at his creation. The various lamplights placed around the room flickered in the underground breeze. Coz (short for Cozmecios, but who wants to say that every time they greet him) was wearing his old tattered robe and clothing. He rubbed his chin as he thought. Then he reached back and lifted a piece of parchment from the messy table. He reread the paper before simultaneously whistling and blowing the white hair from his face.

Although the king's task for him had been rather ambiguous he still did his best. The letter might have well said "make the prince a bodyguard," and it would not have changed the outcome. Coz's knees creaked as he reached up to tug on the pulley system above him. He lowered the, now assembled, hanging wooden doll down onto the table. Removing the books and the lantern to have a clear space, re-organizing the doll's limbs.

The underground workshop was very cluttered but built in a way where everything seemed in arms reach, that's why Coz liked it. No reason to go far for tools if they are all nearby. There was a single curtain that hung in front of the skylight to the workshop, keeping it in perpetual darkness. The less amount of distractions from the outside the better.

The old mage did have a fondness for the prince. He frowned at the thought of the attack, the young man was so outcast from the rest of the world and yet so many were still after him. He had yet to run into a poison that he couldn't create an antidote for.

The king didn't exactly have the best reputation among a few of the more violent factions. Well, he hoped that this next creation would do the trick. The prince's father wanted him to finally do something about the constant assassination attempts at some of the less guarded royal family. He struggled to lift the leg of the life-sized wooden doll and arranged it so it wasn't completely crooked.

Coz turned and brought a belt of tools next to the head of the doll, sitting back into a tall chair. He slid a small hammer and chisel from the toolbelt belt and placed the chisel gently on the wood. He tapped on the chisel and started to carve away. After he activated the charge the face would become animated anyways but this would give it a good start.

The old man hummed as he worked, chipping away at the face. He wanted this one to be special, usually when making an animated doll one would only use a low-level charge, but he needed to make this one different. He thought as he worked nimbly, cutting away at the wood and letting the shavings pile around his feet and along the table.

There was an ample knock at the door.

Coz stopped chipping. Craning his head to look up the staircase.

"Who is it?"

"Kingsguard." Coz turned, giving the entrance his full attention.

"Oh bugger off, I'm doing my job."

"The king just wants assurance this is your top priority archmage Cozmecios."

"And I very much respect the king, so stop distracting me and go back to drinking and prancing around in the gardens." There was a moment of silence before footsteps receded from the door.

"Prick." He turned and shook his head, raising the chisel and hammer once again. The humming started and the light tap tap echoed in the small cavern.

* * *

Coz slumped in the chair, leaning back with his feet up on the desk next to the king-sized bed. He was snoring loudly as the curtains blew back and forth on the window. Under the multitude of blankets was the prince, face calm and serene. The warm day went on, the snores never stopping.

One of the Prince's eyes creased, and then the other. There was a groan as he opened his eyes, squinting at the bright lights. He glanced over at the snoring mage, whose head was tilted back and mouth ajar. He pushed himself up with an arm and closed his eyes as a wave of nausea washed over him, he felt light-headed, mouth dry.

Coz stopped snoring and smacked his lips before peeling open a single eye to look at the prince.

"Bout time you woke up." He removed his feet from the desk and handed the prince a glass of water.

"Your father went a little crazy with the whole, 'kill our enemies before they kill us,' shpeil, how many guards do you think are outside this room about now."

The prince rolled his eyes, "Too many," he said, putting the glass back on the nightstand.

"How are you feeling kid?" Coz folded his hands and laid back again.

"Tired, a little bit sick to the stomach."

"Well yeah, but you were out for a whole week this time, maybe you shouldn't feel too tired."

"Ugh." Icarus laid his head back.

"Tell me about it bud, well at least now that whole thing with the princess coming down here to visit this horrid place is gone, she was sent back home."

Icarus took a deep breath, "What brings you here Coz?"

"Oh you know just the normal, doing something for your dad, except this time I feel like it's more for you, so happy birthday I guess?" Icarus raised an eyebrow. Coz rose from his chair and reached down past the edge of the bed, the prince couldn't see what he was doing. With a heave, Coz lifted a giant wooden doll onto the bed. It flopped outwards, sprawled with limbs over the covers.

The prince just stared at it, "...Whats this?"

"Something I uh, whipped up while you were in your beauty sleep." He patted the back of the wooden doll on the bed.

"Just because I am older, doesn't mean you make the dolls bigger Coz."

"Yea except whoever said this one was some boring old doll, cause I made this one, it ain't gonna be boring, usually the things I make aren't particularly boring."

There was another loud rapping on the door.

"Well, that's my cue to leave kid, the king wanted to see me as soon as you woke up but I will be back in a bit." Coz got up to leave and started to walk towards the door.

"Coz… what do I do with this?" Icarus gestured to the human-sized wooden doll that was facedown on his bed.

"Oh, yea." He jumped over to the bed and placed his hand on the back of the head, each finger resting against the back of the wooden skull with the palm elevated. There was a snap and a blue flash, it looked like he had shocked the wooden doll with static.

"I wanted him to wake up and see you first, he learns really fast so don't do anything too crazy."

The prince just stared at the doll.

"This thing?"

"I will fill you in later, have fun or whatever you kids do these days." Coz shut the door behind him and the prince was left with the large wooden doll. It almost looked like the large version of a mannequin that a painter would use to stand and use as a reference or even one of those statues used in fancy storefronts to show off clothing. Icarus looked around the room, taking a good look at where he had been sleeping.

He took a deep breath and looked back down at the wooden doll in front of him. It was sprawled like a corpse, its seemingly lifeless limbs pressing down into the bedsheets. Icarus lifted a tentative hand and raised it towards the doll. His hand came in contact with the smooth wood on the back of the head.

It was smooth and had a light layer of shavings on the back as if it had been freshly made. He pushed the head to the side with effort and looked at the face. There was a carved face in the doll that was eerily realistic. Its eyes were closed, if it not had been made of wood the prince have guessed it a normal face. There were no features past the ears, forehead, or below the chin. He tried to lift the head but wasn't able to lift it more than a few inches, definitely solid wood.

Icarus stopped trying to lift the head and sat upright in bed, yawning and stretching his arms outwards, gentle sunlight streaming through the open window and the smell of a fresh morning.

The doll's head shot up from the covers, body still limp on the bed. Icarus almost flew off the mattress and onto the ground. He stared at the wooden head that was looking directly at him, wooden eyes wide open. There was a small blue glow from them making the dolls face almost look empyreal.

Icarus stared, and the doll stared back. There were minutes of silence between the two, the dolls eyes started to trace the edges of Icarus' face, finally pulling away from the prince's form to look at its surroundings.

After the quick survey of the area, its attention was brought back to the bed, its limbs still sprawled at awkward angles. The doll looked down at one of its own hands, masterfully crafted fingers and one of them twitched.

The prince watched perplexed as it lifted each finger, one by one, then the hand, then the other. The wooden doll stood up next to the bed in a swift movement and locked its gaze back onto Icarus.

"Hello?" Icarus said hesitantly. The doll didn't move. "My name is Icarus." More eerie silence filled the space around them. The doll's face twitched as if it was trying to mimic the movement of Icarus'. Icarus pulled off the covers from the bed and gently swung his legs over the ground. He moved off of the bed and put weight on his weak legs. His knees slightly wobbled but he quickly regained his balance and walked over to the doll, whose head tracked his movements until Icarus was standing directly in front of him.

The wooden figure was about the same height as Icarus, they looked eye to eye and Icarus held out a hand. "I'm Icarus." The doll looked down at his hand, it took a few seconds before it reached out its own, limbs moving slowly as if it was unsure of what to do. Icarus met the hand with his own and gave it a light shake up and down. "Do you have a name?" Icarus looked into the dolls eyes, they didn't move.

"Shake your head up and down like this," Icarus nodded, "if it's a yes, and back and forth," he rose up an index finger and motioned left and right with head, "if its a no alright?" The doll's head moved crookedly up and down.

"Great," Icarus was beaming, this was by far, one of the coolest things he had seen.

"So do you have a name?" The dolls head shook left and right.

"Ah, well that won't do now will it, do you want a name?" The doll's head stood still for a few moments before quickly moving up and down.

"Hmmm, a name, a name." Icarus lifted himself back onto the bed and hung his feet off the side.

"What would be a good name for something like you." He eyed the doll up and down, it's thin and sturdy limbs at attention, almost like the soldier, or a member of a royal color guard.

"Guard! No, too blunt." Icarus tapped his chin before smiling, his mind always wandered left and right, but this was important. "I am sure I can grab some inspiration somewhere, come on let's go to the gardens, my father and mother can wait." Icarus moved towards the door and the wooden doll obediently followed. Icarus took the steps down the stairs slowly and one by one, coming to the entrance of the garden just below his window, his sanctuary. Every movement it made was smooth, walking normally, but when something moved quickly or he was called the doll would snap to attention, locking in a trance.

He stepped onto the dirt path with bare feet, he had left the sandals at the room. It was especially nice weather today, the ground covered in various leaves and settling onto the ground. Icarus made sure he heard the small clunk of wood everytime the doll took a step. Soon he diverted from the path and took an alternate route along a field of tiny white flowers and grass. Once Icarus made it to the foliage line he pulled back some leaves and in the deep shade there was a hidden path. Only a few more strides and it came to a small stone altar.

The prince kneeled down and looked back to the doll, its head moved around the socket smoothly, scanning the trees and the environment.

"Come here sit." The prince patted the stone next to him kneeling spot. The doll kneeled down in the same position and looked at him.

"Watch this." The prince took a nearby branch in his hand and gently shook it. The underside of the leaves started to glow a small bit of luminescent blue, but if one looked closer it was rather the creatures on the leaves. The small butterflies let off a dim blue glow and jumped from the foliage and started to flutter around the dim clearing. The doll's eyes traced everyone, watching them dash left and right in a small frenzy, wings flapping frantically.

"This place is one of my favorites, these were brought in from islands further south." Icarus watched as one of the butterflies lowered themselves near the water, he already knew what was going to happen next. One by one the butterflies wings turned completely off and they seemed to blink out of existence until they flashed again further along the water. They danced along the top of the water, flashing on and off in a miniature light show.

"They are catching bugs." These particular butterflies preyed on smaller insects. "They use their lights to distract and cause the bugs to think that they are not nearby, disorienting them. After they illuminate their wings they turn the lights off so they can quickly catch their unsuspecting prey. Almost as if they were invisible." The prince smiled and watched as the butterflies continued their dance of prey and predator. In the short time that he had turned his eyes away from the Doll, he failed to notice that it had left its spot kneeling at his side.

After a short glance, he realized that he was now alone in the clearing. He turned and looked left and right, standing up.  
"Where did he go?" Then there was a dash of movement across the small stream of water, the butterflies scattered and flew higher up into the leaves above. The doll was running away into the foliage and ducked behind a tree.

"Wait where are you going?" Icarus took a step forward but there was a small tap on his shoulder, he nearly jumped four feet straight up. He spun around and the doll was there, waiting by his side. It took a good few seconds of blinking, looking where the doll had just been, and back to where he was now. It was almost as if the wooden figure had teleported, causing Icarus to do a triple take.

"Whoa.. but weren't you just back there?" The doll just stood there, looking at him.

"Huh," Icarus looked back at the tree and then back to the doll. Except again, the doll was not there. He spun around and again the doll was now kneeling on the ground, back to the original position looking up at him with expectant eyes. It raised a hand and pointed to the butterflies still above their head, tilting its head.

"Yes, yes that is what they do." The prince stood there, slightly amazed. "That's so cool, did you just copy them?" The doll's head tilted up, then down. The prince grinned, "Come on let's go back to the room, I have a lot of questions for Coz and he is with father right now." As they walked back the prince was deep in thought.

He stopped right in the middle of the field of white flowers."How, about, Shako. Like the hat, you know the one the flag bearers wear." The doll stared at him without moving. "Well I guess you wouldn't know but it is still a good idea. It sounds sly, and with that trick, you pulled off it also seems to have that hint of surprise." He received little response from the doll.

"You're right, it needs sort of a ring to it, maybe move more smoothly, not as sharp. He tilted his head left… then right.

"Well, what about Shaco?" There was the slightest of nods from the wooden doll, face impassive as always. Icarus smiled, "Yes… Shaco, that's your name!"

The edges of the doll's mouth twitched upwards slightly, trying to smile just like Icarus but managing a grimace.

"Shaco."

* * *

 **Off to a bold start, hopefully not pouring too much of it into your mind... hopefully.**

 **Tell me what you think and feedback will always be appreciated, I am not a fast writer but will do my best with what I have.**

 **Many thanks,**

 **\- One Two Many Dreams**


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